Echoes
by willynilly23
Summary: Another wish fulfillment piece for 508 before reality emerges tomorrow.


Echoes

Notes: I hope I am not getting my hopes up too much for 508, but I really want to see some good old fashioned Annie/Auggie teamwork (even if they are not yet back to #Walkerson status). So far this season we have not seen Annie in Auggie's apartment, she made it to the door, but not inside. Now that Tash has vacated here is a scene I would love to see in 508. This is completely unrelated to Adrift, an alternate hopeful scenario.

***555***

"Come in," Auggie unlocked the door to the loft and ushered Annie inside awkwardly.

The last time she was really here it was to deliver the news about Helen and Auggie did not want to go back there, he wanted them to move forward.

"Thanks," she said quietly, she had been nearly silent since Joan and Calder had sent her home pending the review of Hayley's findings.

"You OK?" he asked gently.

Annie nodded, having forgotten the nuances of communicating with Auggie.

"Annie?" he asked when she didn't reply verbally.

She looked up at him then, framed by the gleaming whiteness and stainless steel of his kitchen and it was as if a wave washed over her, dragged her out to sea and spit her back on the shore. In that one instance, her name on his lips in this place, and all her defenses came crashing down. Months of building up walls against him wasted.

"Aug…" her voice cracked on the first syllable and he heard the tears there, frowned and moved towards her.

She threw herself into his arms and he held her as she sobbed against his chest.

"It's OK. You're OK," they were words each had spoken to the other over the years, the constant need to reassure as present as it ever was.

Auggie was unsure if minutes or hours went by, he wasn't timing it, he had Annie in his arms and while the circumstances were less than ideal he was not letting go. Suddenly he felt her tense, her hands that had been clutching his shirt went slack and she stepped back.

"Sorry," she said shyly, her voice thick.

"It's OK," he repeated and reached out trying to find her hand.

She gave it to him, felt him squeeze it as he had outside Calder's office, as he had at a noodle shop in Hong Kong, as he had in an alley in Barcelona. She felt stronger with him, that scared her, but it was true.

"I'm going to wash up," she squeezed back and he released her to go clean up the aftermath of her breakdown.

Annie climbed the few steps up to Auggie's bedroom, it was neat as a pin. She slid the pocket door of the bathroom open and everything was in its place and there was no sign of Natasha or Hayley to be found. She was irritated by how relieved she was by that.

She blew her nose with a lotion-soft tissue from the box on the back of the toilet and wished she had thought to bring her bag up from the car. Just as she was debating putting her shoes back on she heard Auggie approach.

"Annie? I have a few things…." He trailed off sounding awkward.

She slid the door open and found him there with a small stack of clothes, a toothbrush and travel-sized thing of face wash on top.

"There wasn't much left here after everything, but I kept this…" he was floundering trying to explain why he held on to these couple of items.

"Thanks Auggie," she said simply, ending his misery and reaching for the small pile of things.

Her hand slid over his, he arched his fingers up and she instinctively laced hers through his on top of what she now realized was his favorite shirt.

"This one is yours," she smiled as her thumb ran over the impossibly soft cotton.

"It's yours Annie, I could never wear it again without thinking of you," he admitted.

"Yeah?" she asked, her voice watery again.

"Yeah," he nodded.

She took the items from him and moved back into the bathroom. The toothbrush was stiff with disuse, but a few seconds under the water and it returned to usable, the face wash was similarly desiccated and she tossed it settling for plain water instead. In the pile of clothes she found a pair of running shorts and sports bra that were infinitely more comfortable than what she had on, paired with the Green Hills HS T shirt she was comfortable enough to sleep. In the pocket of the shorts she found a hair tie and raked her fingers through her hair to salvage her curl for tomorrow, whatever tomorrow brought.

"I feel better, thanks," Annie said, startling Auggie who seemed to be lost in space.

"Good," he recovered with a grin. "I'm going to do the same, help yourself to anything in the fridge or whatever."

With that he bounded up the steps and Annie heard him open and close drawers as she moved to the kitchen. It was close to midnight, Calder dragging out her day as long as possible before telling her they needed more time to review everything Hayley had brought them. He told her there was a sweep team at her place and she might want to find somewhere else to sleep tonight. Auggie assured her she was welcome despite her protests.

She opened the fridge and was tempted to go right for the Patron, but she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast and despite the nerves she was starving. She was surprised to see a pomegranate yogurt in the door, Auggie hated pomegranate and for a moment she recoiled at the thought that it was Tash's and then she noticed the expiration date.

"You OK?" Auggie asked when he returned to silence.

"Is this mine?" she asked quietly.

"You will need to be more specific," he grinned.

She didn't say anything, but brought the small plastic cup over to him, set it in his palm and watched him run his free hand over it. She saw the sadness on his face, the emotion in his eyes said everything.

"Tash threw it away, the first day she was here. I noticed as soon as I got home and made her dig it out of the trash," he admitted with a pensive look.

"What did you tell her?"

"Nothing, just said it stayed there."

"Were you planning to poison me with it when I came back, it expired 11 months ago," she teased.

"It was our thing, we'd come home you'd eat the disgusting pomegranate yogurt and then I would complain about as I kissed you senseless," he admitted.

"That was our thing?" she laughed.

"One of our things," he moved towards her, the yogurt still in his hand.

She backed up until the counter hit her spine and he reached past her and returned the yogurt to the fridge.

"There is some very delicious peach yogurt in there, not expired, if you're hungry," he nearly whispered in her ear as one hand found her hip.

"Suddenly not so hungry," she replied as she swallowed.

He just smiled, that infuriating smile he got when he knew he was irresistible, but damn if he wasn't totally irresistible.

"You've had a long day, you should get some rest," he switched from sexy to sincere in seconds and Annie melted a little inside.

He moved his hand, achingly slow, from her hip all the way to her cheek, using his other to frame her face and kissed her squarely on the forehead as if he knew right where it was.

The End


End file.
